January 2013

January 31, 2013

Well, here we are again, shades of last season, with the Sabres on a skid and needing a win against a very tough Boston team. I'm pulling out the stops and wearing my Stafford sweater for this game. This means two things... 1) Stafford will get his first goal tonight and 2) He will be traded because I own his jersey.

By the way... my debut post this season about swagger? Yeah... that was a one time thing apparently.

Well, off we go.

1st Period

Update: 17:07 1st - Scott and Thornton drop the gloves immediately off the faceoff. Scott lands several solid punches before Thornton loses an edge and falls. Wishing that fight would have gone the distance. I'm sure there will be more!

Update: 11:30 1st - Boston has had a couple solid chances. Now they head to the PP on a slash by Leopold.

Update: 8:22 1st - I'm surprised by the number of bad passes by Boston. They're spending a lot of time chasing the puck down. They don't look like a 5-0-1 team in this period. They are creating some good opportunities though. Sabres are going to be in trouble if they don't slow them down.

Not a bad period by the Sabres. They've done a decent job of holding Boston at bay. Some moments where things got chippy, but nothing out of control. Killing off two power plays didn't help their cause, but at least they killed them. Miller has played well and has made some big saves. So has Rask. The Sabres need to generate some better chances in the 2nd, but overall, I have no complaints so far.

Update: 1:41 2nd - Exceptionally strong play to keep the puck in the offensive zone leads to a great goal by Tyler Ennis off a fantastic pass from Vanek. Vanek racking up another big points night. 3-3 game.

Update: 2nd Intermission

Well THAT was interesting. The Sabres defense got manhandled in the 2nd period, giving up three goals, all of which would have been prevented by a competent college defensive pairing. But the Sabres came storming back, scoring a PP goal and then playing the strongest hockey I've seen from them in a long time to keep the puck in play in Boston's end, leading to Ennis' goal shortly after returning to even strength. If they can continue to play the way they played that shift, they will win this game. Frankly, I'm impressed that they rallied. Last year they would have tucked tail. You can see these guys trying to fight through it this year. They are trying to right the ship and I dig it.

Miller is still playing strong. None of the three goals so far were his fault. If I'm Lindy, I'm playing eeny-meeny-miney-moe with my defensemen during intermission to decide which ones are scratched and which ones are sent down to the Amerks. Other notables so far: Foligno, Vanek, Ennis, Ott, and Stafford all had a solid period.

3rd Period

Update: 18:20 3rd - Tyler Myers' suckiness leads to 4th Boston goal.

Update: 17:33 3rd - Jesus Christ! I can't type this fast. Sulzer scores from the top of the circle to tie it up again. Heads up pass by Grigorenko. 4-4 game.

Update: 13:06 3rd - Vanek to Hodgson on a one-timer goal. 5-4 Good Guys! Lateral movement is not Rask's friend.

It wasn't pretty, but great job stealing a much needed road win in Boston. Miller was ridiculous tonight. So was Thomas Vanek. They should share the first star as far as I'm concerned. The defense as a whole was abyssmal. Tyler Myers needs to be benched. I don't know what's wrong with him but tonight was his worst performance as a Sabre, and that's saying a lot after the first 6 games he's had.

Vanek continues to play like a premier forward. His pass to Ennis was pure above-and-beyond effort and his final goal made a mockery of Rask. He carried the team tonight. It's great to see, but he's famous for disappearing for long stretches, and no one can maintain the point streak he's on right now. At this rate he's on pace to match the huge point totals of Mogilny and LaFontaine back in the day. But it would be nice if he can keep playing at this level.

What impressed me most was that the team never quit. They had a rough patch in the 2nd, but they fought back and made it right. For Mille and for the offense, it's gotta be tough watching your defense play so poorly as you continue to bust your ass to stay in the game, but there's a noticable difference between this team and the team last year. I hope it continues.

On a down note, my jersey brought no luck to Stafford, although I thought he played a solid game.

January 29, 2013

After starting the season 2-0, in large part due to finding themselves the beneficiary of some calls that usually tend to go against them, the Buffalo Sabres find themselves at 2-3 after five games.

I'm digging a season where every game matters, by the way.

By no means are the Sabres in panic mode after dropping three straight. But given this abbreviated campaign, wins and losses at least seem to carry more weight than usual -- even though I keep telling myself it's still all relative.

That said, this type of situation certainly makes me feel like I'm much more justified when overreacting to what's going on on the ice. So maybe you think I'm crazy when I suggest that the Sabres trade Tyler Myers as soon as possible.

There are three main reasons I say this: 1) The Sabres are in need of an elite center, 2) they desperately need more offensensive weapons than merely Thomas Vanek, and 3) Tyler Myers apparently is a 6-8 pussy.

Despite adding some much-needed grit to the lineup with the additions of Steve Ott, John Scott, and Marcus Foligno, I'm still convinced the Sabres are two bold moves away from being taken seriously. Assuming one of these bold moves isn't going to be a change behind the bench, the next best thing is to go after Ryan Getzlaf (which I wrote about last season and would link to right now if I weren't using a work computer with a Windows 1927 browser).

It seemed to be conventional wisdom last year that a trade for Getzlaf started and ended with Tyler Myers. Assuming this were even possible this year, I doubt Darcy Regier would move him (which is another issue unto itself, but I digress), but I think you at least offer him up.

Maybe this is what you should expect from a 22-year-old who throws a $10 million signing bonus in the bank, but if all you're going to get out of a 6-8 defenseman is a guy who can skate the puck out of the zone (when he's not putting the puck right on an opponent's tape), well, we've already got four other ones who can do that.

Put simply, if you're not going to use a 6-8 frame to bruise the opposition, you're not worth very much (and certainly not $5 million a year). Now that Grigorenko is up for the year, I can't off the top of my head think of any center in the league who'd be better than Getzlaf at showing the new kid the ropes on the job. To say nothing about the instant firepower you'd add to both regular shifts and the power play. And Getzlaf's also 6-4.

I'm not arguing the Myers can't or won't improve. After all, you'd have to count on the Ducks valuing him as highly as they value Getzlaf (maybe even a little less given that Getzlaf's in a contract year). This move would be risky because Getzlaf is a free agent at the end of the season, but I'd think Regier would be able to offer him several million good reasons to stick around in Buffalo, especially with Myers's salary off the books.

I was happy to read today that Robyn Regehr and Alex Sulzer are going to be scratched in favor of Mike Weber and T.J. Brennan tonight. It shows that perhaps nothing is set in stone on the back end. But with eight NHL defenseman on the roster, you have to think there are some moves in the works.

Brennan, especially, needs to be playing every night now that he appears to have proven he's ready for a full time gig in the bigs. He can't be sent to Rochester because he'd almost certainly be claimed immediately. And if his AHL fight two weeks ago against Syracuse Crunch winger Richard Panik is any indication (Panik gave rookie Zemgus Girgensons a concussion with a cheap hit), he's already proven he's tougher than Myers too.

The biggest disappointment for me so far this year is the absence of Brayden McNabb, who last year looked like he was poised to give this team a much-needed physical upgrade on defense for years to come. At 6-4 himself and now a 2013 AHL all-star, he belongs with the parent club as well.

The Buffalo Sabres are stacked at D. It's time to utilize Myers's greatest asset -- his trade value -- to simultaneously add some more size and spark down the middle while making room for defensemen who are willing to clear the front of the net and make their opponents pay the price in the corners.

January 25, 2013

"How much more time should Lindy give the Stafford-Ennis-Foligno line before considering a change?"

Seriously?? We're seriously having this discussion three games into the season? Just because a line isn't scoring doesn't mean it isn't playing solid hockey. I'm at somewhat of a disadvantage because I only caught the last 13 minutes of last night's game, but what I saw of this line in the first two games didn't warrant breaking them up. So they haven't scored 14-bazillion points in 3 games like they did during their run at the end of last year. They also had an extended off-season without the benefit of a full training camp and preseason to get their game legs back.

January 20, 2013

So, let's recap. When last we saw our heroes, the season had just ended with most Sabres fans hating the team, hating the coach, hating the GM, hating the president, and the love affair with shiny new owner T-Pegs in serious jeopardy. For a very large part of the season, Ryan Miller played awfully poor hockey, as did the team in front of him. Lazy and sloppy were the watchwords of the season. The team showed very little passion.

Then, somewhere in late January or early February, when it was almost too late, something happened. I envision it being a lot like the scene in Christmas Vacation where Beverly D'Angelo goes into the garage, flips on a light switch hidden behind the freezer on a whim, and blinds the entire neighborhood with the brilliance of Chevy Chase's Christmas lighting display. The Sabres, in much the same way, fumbled around in the dark before flipping a switch that blinded the NHL with their brilliance. Suddenly, down was up, left was right, darkness was blinding light, and the Sabres put together a stretch that got them to within a couple points of the playoffs after being dead last in the Eastern Conference.

Although out of the playoffs, fans were left with some slight optimism that some changes would be made and the team would come back to pick up where they left off. Then a couple of key aquisitions were made, John Scott and Steve Ott being the biggest. And somewhere along the way, Darcy drafted well. And there was hope. And then came the lockout.

I'm not going to get into my thoughts on the lockout, or how it's absurd for players to think a business can stay viable when putting 57% of its revenue to labor. Suffice to say I was squarely with the owners this time. What I will say is the lockout left me bummed out about the lack of a season. It left me not really caring much about the players or what was happening, or if there would even be a season. At the very least we should have all been blogging once the lockout ended but, as recently as this morning, I was feeling very ambivalent towards the whole thing.

Then I watched the season opener.

I've been a fan of Buffalo sports teams long enough to know not to get my hopes up this early in a season. Things can, and often do, go horribly awry with our teams. But I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised today. With only a few changes, this appears to be a completely different team from last year's train wreck. It's obvious that the Sabres finally got tired of being the laughingstock of the NHL. If the Sabres are looking to change their image, they went a long way towards doing so today. Which brings me to the topic of this post... swagger!

This team had swagger today! Not the swagger of the new kid at school who acts tough but is terrified on the inside that everyone will find out he watches Glee and drinks chai tea. They had the attitude of a team that has strength behind it, and that strength came from Steve Ott. I'll admit, I only knew a little about Ott when the Sabres traded for him, and most of it was from Googling his highlight reels. After today's performance, I'd say he's going to be a nice addition to the team. He made the entire team tougher just by his presence. Marcus Foligno, no prima donna himself, played like a beast in the presence of Ott. And Drew Stafford throwing down with Hartnell doesn't happen without Ott and Scott on the roster this year to watch his back.

I said last season that I don't care about losing games if the team is giving 100%. While sloppy at times, this team let it all hang out. And I loved every minute of it. A perfect example was Cody Hodgson's goal in the 3rd period. Vanek skates in, shoots, and Hodgson comes screaming in from the parking lot to jam home the rebound. Another example is that not once but twice, Sabres players hustled to beat out icing calls and keep plays going. There isn't a single player on the team who would have put that kind of effort in last season.

And while I'm on the topic of Vanek, five points in one game? Craziness! Congratulations to him on a huge day.

Again, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic because I'm tired of getting my hopes up only to see them dashed, but today was a great start. As I said in this post a year ago, almost to the day, the Sabres needed a heart transplant to turn things around. I'd say they got it with Steve Ott, along with a healthy dose of swagger.